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Case History: Intigam Aliyev

On 28 March 2016, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan ordered the release of human rights defender Mr Intigam Aliyev, changing his prison sentence from seven years and six months to a five year suspended sentence.

About Intigam Aliyev

Intigam Aliyev is the head of the Legal Education Society,a human rights organisation that provides legal support to mass and non-governmental organisations and low-income groups of the population. It also publishes legal literature, monitors legislative reforms, and organises seminars, conferences and trainings. As a human rights lawyer, Intigam Aliyev has submitted more than 200 applications to the European Court of Human Rights in cases of election rigging, abuses of free speech and right to fair trial. In 2012, Mr. Aliyev was awarded the People in Need’s Homo Homini Award in recognition of his commitment to defending human rights.

On 28 March 2016, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan ordered the release of human rights defender Mr Intigam Aliyev, changing his prison sentence from seven years and six months to a five year suspended sentence.

Intigam Aliyev is head of the Legal Education Society, a human rights organisation that provides legal support to non-governmental organisations and low-income groups in Azerbaijan. It also publishes legal literature, monitors legislative reforms and organises seminars, conferences and trainings. As a human rights lawyer, Intigam Aliyev has submitted more than 200 applications to the European Court of Human Rights in cases of election rigging, abuses of free speech and right to fair trial. In 2012, Intigam Aliyev was awarded the People in Need’s Homo Homini Award in recognition of his commitment to defending human rights.

On 28 March 2016, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan revoked the previous sentence against Intigam Aliyev, handed down by the Court of Baku on 24 April 2015, and ruled to release him from prison. The Court found the human rights defender's sentencing by the lower court to seven years and six months' imprisonment to be excessive and replaced it with a suspended sentence of five years.

An appeal had been submitted against Intigam Aliyev's sentence by the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan on 24 March 2016. The Prosecutor General claimed his sentence to be excessive. This followed the decision of the Supreme Court, taken on 24 February 2016, to leave the sentence made against the human rights defender by the Court of Baku in place. The Baku Court had found Intigam Aliyev guilty under Article 179.3.2 (misappropriation), Article 192.2.2 (illegal business with extraction of large income), Article 213.2.2 (tax evasion), Article 308 (abuse of official power) and under Article 313 (falsifying data in official documents) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, and presented him with the sentence of seven years and six months' in jail. The human rights defender also received a three year ban from certain positions and activities. During the hearings at the Court of Baku, the Prosecutor's Office sought a sentence of eight years' imprisonment for Intigam Aliyev. The human rights defender has constantly rejected the charges against him as unfounded, and pointed to numerous violations that took place during the investigation into his case and subsequent court proceedings.

Front Line Defenders welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to release Intigam Aliyev and calls for the release of all human rights defenders detained in the country, including Ms Khadija Ismayilova, who remains in prison. Front Line Defenders, however, condemns the original charges brought against Intigam Aliyev, as it believes that they were solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights in Azerbaijan.

24 April 2015

Human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev sentenced to 7.5 years in jail

Intigam Aliyev has been found guilty and sentenced to 7 years in jail under Article 179 .3.2 (misappropriation) of the Criminal Code, to 1 year in jail under Article 192 .2.2 (illegal business with extraction of large income), 3 years in jail and a 2-year ban from certain positions and activities under Article 213 .2.2 (tax evasion), 3 years in jail and a 2-year ban from certain positions and activities under Article 308 (abuse of official power), and 1 year in jail and a 1-month ban from certain positions and activities under Article 313 (falsifying data in official documents). By applying Article 66.3 of the Criminal Court, which allows for partial addition of the sentences, the court sentenced Intigam Aliyev to 7 years and 6 months in prison and a 3-year ban from certain positions and activities.

Aliyev was initially summoned for interrogation to the Serious Crimes Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor's Office in Baku on the morning of 8 August 2014. He was charged with tax evasion, illegal business with extraction of large income and abuse of official power. After hearing the charges, all of which Intigam Aliyev denies, investigators escorted the human rights defender to his house and the office of his NGO in order to carry out searches of the premises. During the search, numerous documents were seized including files relating to complaints sent to the European Court for Human Rights which contained personal information of victims. Later on the same date, the Nasimi District Court in Baku ruled to detain the human rights defender for three months, and authorities transferred him to the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility.

The duration of Intigam Aliyev’s pre-trial detention was later extended despite the deterioration of his health, due in part to the inadequate responses of detention authorities to his medical needs. The human rights defender has faced restrictions of his private correspondance, the seizure of documents and food parcels, and a hostile attitude from prison authorities whilst in pre-trial detention.

Aliyev's sentencing forms part of the intensified targeting of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan, in the build up to the 2015 European Games which will be held in Baku in June. On 16 April 2015, human rights defender Mr Rasul Jafarov was sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment on similar charges to Aliyev.

On 24 October 2014, Nasimi District Court in Baku ruled to extend the pre-trial detention of prominent human rights defenders Ms Leyla Yunus and Mr Intigam Aliev, until 28 February 2015 and 8 February 2015 respectively.

The day before, on 23 October 2014, the same court also ruled to keep human rights defender Mr Rasul Jafarov in pre-trial prison for a further three months. The human rights defenders are presently appealing the latest court ruling and hope to be released from pre-trial detention.

The court upheld a request from the General Prosecutor's Office to keep Leyla Yunus in pre-trial detention due to necessary “investigative activities”. The lawyer of the human rights defender has appealed the ruling, claiming that Leyla Yunus should at least be transferred to house arrest. Leyla Yunus' health is deteriorating rapidly in detention and the human rights defender was beaten and harassed both by prison guards and cell mates while held in pre-trial prison.

On the same day, Nasimi District Court in Baku also extended the pre-trial detention of Intigam Aliev at the request of the General Prosecutor's Office. The human rights defender nearly lost consciousness during the court hearing and his right leg became temporary paralysed. It is believed that this rapid deterioration in health was due to lack of fresh air as he had been brought to the court in a small, poorly-ventilated police van with about eight other detainees. In 2012 Intigam Aliev suffered a severe head injury, and it is believed that since that time he has been experiencing problems with blood circulation, particularly in detention. A petition from Itigam Aliev's lawyer to release his defendant on bail or to convert his detention to house arrest was rejected by the judge.

On 12 September 2014, Nasimi District Court in Baku rejected the petition to transfer human rights defender Mr Intigam Aliev from pre-trial prison to house arrest.Intigam Aliev denied all the charges against him. and argued that he has no intention to abscond from investigation. Despite this, the court ruled to hold the human rights defender in pre-trial prison. Intigam Aliev will appeal this ruling in Baku Appeal Court.

During the court hearing held on 12 September 2014, the judge dismissed the human rights defender's claims regarding the procedural violations during searches of his house and of the offices of the Legal Education Society, which were carried out by police on 8 August 2014, the same days as his arrest. The court was told that, during those searches, police seized his family members' electronic gadgets and folders containing documents which his NGO was preparing to submit to the European Court of Human Rights. It is believed that neither the gadgets nor the documents are connected to the charges against the human rights defender.

Prior to a court hearing on 6 September 2014, Intigam Aliev had prepared a petition regarding the rights of detainees in his pre-trial prison. Specifically, the human rights defender addressed the illegal censorship of detainees' correspondence and the restriction of communications between detainees. Moreover, he mentioned the restriction of books and food parcels being sent to the detainees, as well as the prison guards' attitudes towards detainees and visiting relatives and lawyers. Reportedly, the prison administration has seized lawyers' USB memory sticks containing confidential information about their clients. The human rights defender had planned to submit this petition through his lawyer, but prison guards read and confiscated it before his consultation with his lawyer.

12 August 2014

Human rights defender Mr Intigam Aliyev in pre-trial detention while a group of NGOs' bank accounts are frozen

On the morning of 8 August 2014, human rights defender Mr Intigam Aliyev was summoned for interrogation in the Serious Crimes Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor's Office in Baku, where he was charged with tax evasion (under article 213.1 of the Criminal Code), illegal enterprise (article 192.2.2) and abuse of official power (article 308.2), and was then sent to pre-trial detention. Later on 8 August 2014, Nasimi District Court in Baku ruled to detain the human rights defender for three months, and authorities transferred him to Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility. If the court finds Intigam Aliev guilty of the charges, he may face up to seven years' imprisonment.

After Intigam Aliyev was charged, investigators escorted him to his house and the office of his NGO in order to carry out searches of the premises. During his interrogation, Intigam Aliyev was requested to present his testimonies as a witness in the criminal case taken by the Azeri authorities against a group of NGOs.

It is believed that his arrest may be linked to the fact that the European Court of Human Rights started to address the complaints submitted with Intigam Aliyev's assistance, or may be linked to to a recent speech he made at the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe. In this speech, Intigam Aliyev criticised the authorities of Azerbaijan for its poor human rights record, increasing number of political prisoners, and shrinking space for independent NGOs.

On 9 August 2014, in communication with his lawyer, Intigam Aliyev circulated a statement denying all charges. He stated that the motives behind his arrest are not legal, but “political”. Intigam Aliyev's lawyer has appealed the ruling to transfer the human rights defender to pre-trial detention.

Intigam Aliyev is the fourth human rights defender recently arrested in Azerbaijan. On 30 July 2014, Ms Leyla Yunus and Mr Arif Yunus were charged with economic crimes and treason, and both of them were sent to pre-trial prison. On 2 August 2014, investigative authorities charged and arrested Mr Rasul Jafarov. On 5 August 2014, the court in Baku upheld the petition of the General Prosecutor's office and ruled to freeze the bank accounts of nine national NGOs and one international NGO, including bank accounts of the Legal Education Society, the Media Rights Institute, the Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Public Union, the Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy, Democracy and Human Rights Resource Centre, the Association of Lawyers in Azerbaijan, the Centre for National and International Studies, the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety, and the office of International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) in Azerbaijan. Reportedly, the personal bank accounts of at least three directors of NGOs were also frozen.